Jenne In Insurance Race

September 28, 1988|By White

Two Democrats oppose one another in next Tuesday's runoff for insurance commissioner. The better choice is Ken Jenne, a state senator from Hollywood. The commissioner not only is Florida's regulator of the insurance industry, but he also is its treasurer and fire marshal. His duties as a Cabinet member include maintaining high standards in public schools and protecting the environment.

Mr. Jenne's record as a legislator suggests he has the intelligence, the talent and the commitment to perform the job. In the past session, for example, he helped enact a tough law that requires motorists to carry insurance in case they damage other vehicles. He has championed laws to crack down on drunken drivers and to protect children with restraint devices.

He has received the endorsement of Walter Dartland, an advocate for consumers who ran a respectable third in the first race. Mr. Jenne wisely has incorporated several of Mr. Dartland's good ideas into his own platform, and this has strengthened his commitment to tough regulation and reform of insurance practices.

Mr. Jenne wants companies to adopt fairer methods of selling auto insurance. Because motorists must buy insurance before they can drive in Florida, the state has an obligation to insist that companies treat all consumers equally.

He would offer better information to consumers who are shopping for the best buys in coverage. Meanwhile, he would work to demystify the process through which insurance companies set their rates. He wants an independent agency to gather and distribute data that the industry feeds into its computers. The process would be open to public inspection.

These and other pledges to protect consumers give additional credibility to Mr. Jenne's strong record of public service. Floridians would not be embarrassed to follow this capable leader.

Now that the so-called liability crisis has cooled, it is especially important to elect a strong commissioner who will seek to flatten the industry's notorious rate-making cycles. By setting low rates in the beginning of a cycle to attract more business and then raising them dramatically to cover losses, the industry takes its customers on a wild roller-coaster ride. Mr. Jenne's Democratic opponent is Sen. John Vogt of Cocoa Beach, president of the Florida Senate. Mr. Vogt has complained that his opponent has been too quick to accept money from special interests, and there is some truth to that accusation.

Yet Mr. Vogt certainly was not shy about raising money while the Legislature still was in session. Though he and Mr. Jenne have returned contributions from insurance companies, neither has rejected help from insurance agents and banks, who are eager to be friends with the next commissioner. Clearly, there is much room for improvement on this issue.

But Mr. Jenne's record indicates that he would be the better commissioner. The Sentinel endorses his candidacy on Oct. 4.